Remember Me )))) THE KINGS OF SUMMER

Joe

This chapter has more content from the movie. I thought I should include it to add to the overall story. But again, this is not my story and not my characters—I'm just borrowing them.

I allow my eyes to open as I hear the front door swing shut. She's gone. MJ left. I didn't sleep at all last night. I spent the time memorizing the curve of her hip, the length of her legs and the slant of her jawbone. After she fell asleep, I listened to the slow rhythm of her breathing. I am probably never going to see her again, so I needed something for my memories.

I decided not to say goodbye this morning. I knew if I tried, I would fall on my knees, begging, pleading, for her to stay, to not leave me. And I know that wouldn't be fair. It's not her fault that she's leaving. It's not my fault. It's no one's fault. She just has to go.

I know she won't come back. No one does. My friends all left—I know I told them to—but they never came back. Until MJ found me, I was so lonely. I almost gave up. I almost went home with my tail between my legs. She helped me more than she will ever know. She always talks about how I saved her life, but she saved mine as well.

I knew I liked her after the first night she stayed here. She was an open-book, no games. She wasn't like any girl I had ever known. To be through what she's been through, and to still be a good person? She is the stronger and braver than I could ever be.

I knew I loved her when she jumped off the cliff with no hesitation. I wanted to kiss her that day, so bad, but I was scared. I didn't want her to go. Every guy in her life had either left her or taken advantage of her. She couldn't think that about me.

I can't even remember who kissed who first. It just...happened. And after, I've never been so happy. I thought I liked Kelly, but it was nothing compared to my draw to MJ. She's on my skin, and in the air I breathe, and the thoughts in my head—even now that she's gone.

It doesn't even matter to me that she didn't say she loved me back. I knew she wouldn't. I still had to tell her. She had to know what she meant to me—that I would never hurt her.

I take a deep breath and smell her on the blankets. It makes my chest hurt. How am I going to do this? She—and her absence—is everywhere in this house, and in the woods, and in the water. I've got to try to move on.

I decide to start by washing the blankets. If I can get rid of her physical presence, then it will eventually get easier, right?

I pull on some shorts and gather all the blankets in the loft, bundling them in my arms as I slide down to the main floor. I plop them on the table before grabbing an apple for breakfast.

The air is getting cooler. I will need to figure out how I'm going to heat the house over the winter. I guess I should have thought about that before now, but it'll all work out. I'll figure out something.

I pick up my bundle and head outside. As I turn around to push open the door with my back, I notice some chalk smudges where the blankets had been sitting. If something had been written, it was impossible to read now. One of us probably left it on the table and the blankets smudged it...probably.

As I'm waiting for the laundry to dry, I have a revelation. I'm out of money. I spent the last of it yesterday, and I wasn't able to get very much food with what I did have. After MJ told me she was leaving, I'd forgotten all about it. As much as I am dreading it, I have to figure out how to catch some meat.

I decide to set a trap. I pick some berries and lay them on a big leaf, and wait...and wait...and wait. Of course, all this waiting is just making me think of MJ. It's only been a half of a day, but I miss her like crazy. She would have made this fun somehow—maybe just by being here.